Silent Books

In response to the waves of refugees from Africa and the Middle East arriving in the Italian island, Lampedusa, IBBY launched the project “Silent Books, from the world to Lampedusa and back” in 2012. The project involved creating the first library on Lampedusa to be used by local and immigrant children.

The second part required creating a collection of silent books (wordless picture books) that could be understood and enjoyed by children regardless of language. These books were collected from IBBY National Sections, over one hundred books from over twenty countries. This set of books was deposited at the documentation and research archive in Rome (Palazzo della Esposizioni), a set delivered to the library in Lampedusa and a further set was part of a travelling exhibition.

There are, to date, two collections of Silent Books. The Silent Books Collection 2013 comprises 110 books and has toured as an exhibition to Italy, Mexico, Canada, Austria, and Germany with further exhibitions planned in Belgium and France. The Silent Books Collection 2015, comprising 51 books, has been displayed in Italy and New Zealand.

IBBY Sweden has produced a booklet giving ideas about how to use the Silent Books with children. The booklet can be downloaded from here (PDF, 4.5MB)

Silent Books. Final Destination Lampedusa

IBBY Italia and the Palazzo delle Esposizioni first presented Silent Books. Final Destination Lampedusa, as an international project, as a fair/workshop, at the Bologna in Rome exhibition, which is a showcase for the Bologna Children's Book Fair, and organised in conjunction with the Libraries of Rome.

Through IBBY, the project has collected the best children's books without words – Silent Books – to donate to a library on Lampedusa, the remotest island in the Mediterranean and the first port of call for those arriving from across the sea on their way to starting a new life.

The first exhibition in 2013 comprised over one hundred silent books from four continents and more than twenty countries. Old travel trunks contained books with pictures telling stories that words cannot tell, rich in sensations, dreams and memories emanating from their characters' silence to overcome the language barrier and foster encounters among different cultures. After being shown in Rome, the exhibition travelled around Italy and and across the world, with Lampedusa as its final destination to build a library for Italian and immigrant children with the support of the Lampedusa local authority.

Read the report of activities: Silent Books: from the world to Lampedusa and back - Informal Report (August 2012 - August 2013) here

Silent Books Collection 2017

The third selection of the Silent Books travelling exhibition was launched in September 2017 on Lampedusa.

This collection comprises 79 books from 20 countries chosen from submissions made by IBBY National Sections. Download the full list of the 2017 Silent Books including the 2017 Silent Books Honour List here.

Silent Books Collection 2015

The second selection of the Silent Books travelling exhibition was launched on 10 June 2015 in Rome at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni.

This collection comprises 51 books from 18 countries chosen from submissions made by IBBY National Sections. They provide a sweeping overview of the world of wordless book publishing in five continents. They are rich, original and have a powerful narrative force. Download the full list of the 2015 Silent Bookshere.

As with the 2013 selection, the 2015 selection has an Honour List of five special books, plus another three awarded Honorary Mentions. Download the 2015 Honour List of Silent Bookshere.

Silent Books Collection 2013

The first collection of Silent Books comprised 110 books submitted by IBBY members from four continents. The list of the 2013 Silent Books can be seen here.

An Honour List selected by an international jury from the collection of submitted books. These selected ten works are remarkable for their originality, complexity, historical value and subject matter. Furthermore, three special awards given by Amnesty International, Palazzo delle Esposizioni and IBBY Italiawere announced. 2013 Honour List Silent Bookspdf. A catalogue of the first Silent Book selection, with a description of the Honour List books, is available to download here.

Silent Books: 3rd IBBY Camp in Lampedusa

The third IBBY Camp in Lampedusa brought together 20 IBBY volunteers to the island from 20 to 26 November 2014 to meet 1,000 children and young people. Among the volunteers there were librarians, teachers, promoters of reading, storytellers, illustrators coming from all Italy and distant Canada. With their invaluable help and passionate enthusiasm, we could organize over 40 events, readings and training for children and adults as well. For summary and photos click here.